Battle Of The Bands: Round 11

With the Festive Season fast approaching, this is the final round of Battle Of The Bands of the year.  Going into Round 11, Team Kowalskiy held a one point ahead in the series, and with that pesky Neil from Scottish Fiction on home turf this time around, I'd be lying if I said a shock away win would not make for a great early Christmas present.  The full tweet-by-tweet summary can be found on twitter using the #battleofthebandsround11 hashtag, but here's the short version...

Thanks to my victory in the last round, courtesy of my seasonal choice lovely The Winter Tradition's narrow win over Shambles Miller, I opened up a one point lead meaning I couldn't be behind going into 2013.  I'm not one to rest on my laurels though, so I recruited the wonderful Glasgow duo The Mouse That Ate The Cat.   You could say I was... feline lucky going int this duel.  Unknown to me, on the other side of the virtual, musical ring,  was fellow acronym lovers Where We Lay Our Heads.
 
Before we see how they shaped up, here's the all-important rules.  You can of course read them in full over here.  This round, we were on Neil's turf, so he picked the three stats.  For each of the three, the person with the highest value gets one point.  Both get a half-point if the stats are the same, and losers get absolutely nothing!  He plumped for Band Name Scrabble Score, SoundCloud Tracks, and Number of Members.  All stats were correct at the start of battle.

Right, here's the all-important stats.  Ding, ding, Round 11...

And would you believe it, the away team jinx is over!  It's a DRAW!  It was always on the cards (pardon the pun) after Neil's first stat choice.  Both bands proved the Scrabble equals of one another with a whopping 34 points.  My TMTATC boys' superior SoundCloud Tracks threatened an unprecedented upset until Neil's WWLOH tied the contest on account of their better man, and woman, power.

A draw is fine by me though.  It keeps my one-point lead intact going into the Winter break.  Expect that to be stretched to 2 points after Round 12 on the 9^th of January.

But... you've guess it, it's not about me or Mr. Scottish Fiction... it's all about the music people!  So let's kick off the pre-Christmas plugging with my boys, The Mouse That Ate The Cat, who I've just noticed have added yet another track to their SoundCloud as part of their daily Advent giveaway.  If you've missed it so far, you can catch up here.  It's full of acoustic versions, demos, videos... you name it!  Here's the latest, an acoustic version of I Am The Hottest Fire.

If that's not enough to tide you over until Christmas, Bri and Col will be at King Tuts this Friday.  Those boys are well-and-truly showering you with goodies at the moment!

On to Where We Lay Our Heads now.  It's been a wee while since they've featured on here... too long in fact.  Last year they released two EPs, one conventional in From The Roots, We Grow Limbs, and one not-so in wwloh, a collection of acoustic demos.  You can get those both here.  If you check out their SoundCloud though, there's some teasers from their next release for you.  Here's my pick from them, the brilliantly-titled Keanu Leaves.  Enjoy!

And that's your Battle Of The Bands fill for 2012.  We'll be back on the 9^th of January.  I hope you'll join us as I ritually humiliate Neil and extent my lead to a massive two points.  See you then!

Kowalskiy Singles Club #16

Who's ready for some more lonely-heart action?!  This time 'round I've sought out more singletons to try and woo you. If you like what they have to say for themselves, you know the drill by now... click on the artwork, have a listen, and get better acquainted. Here they are...

Carry On Suzie by SOS

"You boys can keep your virgins. Give me hot old women in high heels with asses that forgot to get old. Phoney bastards need not apply." - SOS

They know what they like these Glasgow boys.  I'll give 'em that!  This is the new FREE single from the artists formerly known as Strawberry Ocean Sea. It's the first to be taken from their new EP A Challenge To The Dark due out later in the year.

Choosing My Religion / How It Remains by Supermarionation

"Confirmed internet hobos WLTM equally lost souls for late night ear destruction hopefully leading to more meaningful encounters. No significant baggage but may occasionally hark back to a simpler time. GCH, DG, BALC and MEIK. GSOH essential but not required as in for the long haul. Percussive love-making a deal breaker, photos on request." - Steven Tonge (Supermarionation)

No idea what any of those mean, other than the GSOH one.  Still, if it's just some late night ear destruction you're after, then get clicking on the artwork and help yourself to this FREE download courtesy of the Supermarionation boys and Six Take No Records.   

I Am The Hottest Fire by The Mouse That Ate The Cat

"Pair of lonely, miserable sad-sacks seek comfort from sympathetic ears - you don't need to love us, you just need to listen." - TMTATC

Tugs at the heart strings doesn't it?!  Well, this is the latest from Glasgow's elesctro-indie-popsters The Mouse That Ate The Cat.  The single's not out until the 23^rd of July, but you can stream it over on their SoundCloud.  Once it's got 100 listens I'm assured they'll upload the 'explicit' version, the 200 listens gets you the B-side Ou Les Morts Est Sont Des Dieux which I'm also assured translates as something "borderline embarrassing".

Goran Ivanisevic by We Are The Physics

"Four visually impaired con-artists masquerading as musicians seek like-minded social lepers for shrine-building, tennis-watching and erratic leg movements. GSOH and an impeccable understanding of English broken must a. Willing to travel within radius of 11 parsecs. No Tim Henmans." - We Are The Physics

As a physicist, I've always been drawn to fellow Weegies We Are The Physics. This homage to the one-time Wimbledon champion is a taster from their second album due out later in the year.  Boy do these guys make one helluva racquet!  It is a belter though!  You can have a listen over here and click the artwork to go buy it!  There's also the brilliant video over here.  

Emmeline by The Dead Man's Waltz

"Corpses of four musicians, deceased early 20th century, seek spiritual/surgical shoulder to cry on over various past relationship catastrophes. Interests: historical novels, true crime, amateur chemistry. Necrophilia 'not off the table' ". - The Dead Man's Waltz

Hope they've cleaned that table!  This is Skye quartet The Dead Man's Waltz.  Intriguing to say the least.  Very much in the Beirut or early Decemberists mould if you ask me.  Sound just as good too.  This is a single from their eponymous album which you can buy here.   You can get Emmeline itself/herself here and the stunning video is over here for you to wonder at.  

Confessions by Shambles Miller

"Loquacious bearded idiot seeks good listener for long nights listening to stories about why he's actually a better beatboxer than everyone thinks and how Les Miserables isn't just an ordinary musical. Must appreciate really good David Bowie impressions and be willing to engage in in-depth conversations about time travel. An affinity for lyrical folky-pop and acoustic ballads with a GSOH: preferable but not essential. Must have own teeth." - Shambles Miller

Something of a Lothario these days is Mr. Miler, jdging my his recent dating exploits. This is his latest single which you can get your grubby hands on by clicking the artwork.

Kowalskiy's Free Monthly 5-track Scottish EP #9

It's the 16^th of the month, so it's time for another five great tracks from five of Scotland's best up-and-coming bands.  Once again I'm pretty chuffed with the outcome.  So, I hope you enjoy Kowalskiy's Free Monthly 5-track Scottish EP #9 too.  A huge thanks to the five acts that have each contributed a song.  Here's what they had to say...

1. Night Noise Team - Broken Kingdom (an exclusive track from their upcoming, debut album)

"'Broken Kingdom' is the final track on NNT's forthcoming 'Slow Release' album, out on 9th May. Cinematic and reflective, an ambiguous ending to a diverse collection of songs. Probably not a single!.." - Sean Ormsby (Night Noise Team)

2. Rose Parade - Grace (live track taken from their Kitchen Session)

"Grace was recorded and filmed in our Kitchen as part of a new side project we started called "The Kitchen Sessions".  It's a laid back acoustic version of the track featuring guest vocals by Jamie Mcgeechan aka Little Fire and the lead singer of Ayr based folk band Trusty and the Foe. After the success of the Rose Parade Kitchen Sessions we decided to invite more bands to play in our kicthen and film them. You can view the sessions here: thekitchensessions.tumblr.com" - Ari Pournaras (Rose Parade)

3. Chasing Owls - Lady Of The Whiteness (cracking song from their EP sessions)

"Lady of Whiteness came out of the sessions that Chasing Owls recorded with Dave Lynch at Bat Box Studios in the beautiful Sussex town of Lewes over the New Year of 2011. The track does well to capture the fresh and original space their music creates whilst at the same time keeping the pace high and frequently nodding its head in heavy acknowledgement of an older time and way of musical life. All of which is representative of Chasing Owls' first record, the EP 'We Began' which is out now and available from the band's website at http://www.chasingowls.com." - Chasing Owls

4. Two Zebras - Almost Crimes (a cracking, lo-fi cover of Broken Social Scene.  He even made some cover art!)

"This song is called ‘Almost Crimes’ and it was originally done by Broken Social Scene – one of my favourite bands. I spent a year in Toronto through 2010 – it was so fresh and I partied really hard and saw some great shows. I recorded this cover track in my studio space over two days in the middle of a really hot summer. It was done with the cheapest mics and some cool vintage gear. It’s probably the most lo-fi thing I’ve done and I really hope you like it" - Daniel McGuire (Two Zebras)

5. The Mouse That Ate The Cat - Wet Rope (a demo from the Oliver-Dykeenies-Stays hybrid)

"They're poorly mixed and not exactly mastered up to a world class rate. In fact, if listened to side by side, the volume and EQ undoubtedly fluctuate to a degree than none of us wish to think about, such is my lack of mixing ability and poor concentration span" - TMTATC (about their 4 demos.  I happen to think that's a nice, if unintentional, touch.)

The EP is now up for free download over on my bandcamp page, along with those that have gone before it.  Enjoy!

We're into double figure next month with EP #10 which, as usual, comes out on the 16^th.   If there's any bands out there who fancy making my life that wee bit easier and want to volunteer a track for one of these EPs, then send me a wee email.